Pro and Cons of the Buffalo Bills moving to Toronto

I just came home from another heart breaking loss for the Buffalo Bills at the hands of the Chicago Bears. The Bills are now winless (0-8) this season. This game was all part of an ongoing experiment to bring the Bills to Toronto for one game a year.  After getting my heart pulled from my chest yet again, I reflect on the possibility of the Bills moving to Toronto from Buffalo.

Before I deliver my verdict, I wanted to review the pros and cons of the Buffalo Bills moving to Toronto:

Pro – Toronto will have a team in all major sports leagues

The NFL is the last major North American sports league not represented in Toronto. By getting an NFL franchise, Toronto would essentially complete its set.Toronto already have an NHL (Maple Leafs), NBA (Raptors)  MLB (Blue Jays) and MLS (TFC)  franchise. Like a kid collecting stickers, I can’t help but want them all. By the way, if you are looking for stickers check out StickerYou for ready-made and custom stickers (shameless plug, I know). Seriously speaking though, having all major sports franchises would cement Toronto as a sports powerhouse. Even the UFC is about to plan a major event in Toronto. Does Toronto necessary need the NFL? The answer is no. That said, bringing another major sports franchise to Toronto would continue raise the profile of the city in the eyes of sports fans. There are only 13 cities with all 4 major sports franchises. Toronto could be number 14.

Con – Potential Impact on the CFL

The CFL is a Canadian institution. Bringing the NFL to Toronto may threaten this institution. While bringing the NFL to Toronto doesn’t necessarily spell instant doom for the CFL, it will probably not help in the long-term. The Argos fanbase  would likely take offense to having to share with their Toronto NFL counterpart. The NFL will push hard and likely trump requests by the Argos. The question then becomes whether Toronto can really support two football teams. If it can’t, it might have long-lasting negative impact to the CFL. The Argos has one of the biggest fan bases of all CFL franchises. If Toronto happily accepts an NFL team and the CFL fails, it will only give Canadians another reason to “love” Toronto.

Pro – Financial Impact

This is a no brainer from a economics perspective; the NFL will bring big dollars to Toronto. While there are only 8 home games, the financial impact would be profound. NFL fans are some of the most loyal. They will travel thousands of miles (most NFL fans wouldn’t use kilometers) to watch their team.  That said it would be a boon for the tourist industry in Ontario. At today’s game, the Bills fans were overrun by Chicago Bears fans. The mix in the crowd was actually closer to 50% Chicago, 40% Buffalo and 10%  “other”. The NFL has die hard fans, willing to travel and spend money when they get there. By bringing tens of  thousands of fans to Toronto, it will help local businesses and create more jobs.

Cons – Toronto needs to do it right to make it work

What do I mean when I say “Do it right”? As I went to the stadium yet the organizers did an alright job trying to emulate the feel of an NFL game in its home city, but truthfully it just didn’t feel right. There were no people with BBQs out of the back of their minivan, no keg parties, and it just didn’t feel the same. Tailgate parties in other NFL cities are legendary, but the ones in Toronto (in my opinion) fizzled out. The tailgate area that they had ran out of beer within an hour. The King of Beers was reduced to a stable boy. The only food there was sausages provided by Hooters. Hooters, as we all know, is well known for their sausages (if I had a sarcasm detector it would be going nuts right now). Perhaps Toronto just needs more practice to get it right, but right now the tailgate scene  is lackluster at best. The stadium atmosphere is another important aspect. They need to generate more energy in the stadium and connect the fans and bring the fans closer to the game. At today’s game, a huge block of seats closest to the game were not open. It felt like the fans were very separated from the game itself.  During today’s game, the organizers just couldn’t emulate the same electricity seen in Buffalo. This is partially in part to the fact the crowd was so mixed.  Still, the stadium atmosphere is obviously a work in progress.

Pros –  Growth of the Game

NFL has dabbled with a more international flare. Whether it be games in Europe, or these road trips to Canada, the NFL has tried some different things. The Superbowl  generates one of the biggest TV sports audiences  in the world, but the NFL has really not expanded its team base outside of the US. Now, many would say that expanding to Toronto isn’t much of a move, as many people seem to think of Canada as “US lite”. However, I would argue that it is is an important start. Football is tremendously popular and generates huge revenues, but like any business they should always looking to development new markets. Toronto could be one of them.

Cons – Death of a Franchise

Moving the franchise out of Buffalo would spell the end of the Bills name, and to some extent their history. If they move, a lot of the Bills history would be left behind. Toronto would likely re-brand the Bills with a new name. I can’t foresee a relocated team being called the Toronto Bills. It just wouldn’t work. The Bills have been a large part of my sports childhood (see my blog article on the topic), and I would be sad to see them go. While I still hold out hope that the Buffalo Bills will win the Superbowl, after this last game I don’t see it happening any time soon.  I feel in many ways like a jilted lover.  There are always many claims  that I will be treated better in the future, but it just never seems to happen.

Pros – Serving this Market

Looking at the trajectory of the Bills franchise in Buffalo, it is clear where things are headed. Buffalo census numbers indicate that since its peak in the 1950’s, the population has declined to nearly half its population in 60 years. The latest attempt of the franchise to reach out to Toronto indicates that it recognizes that there is a shifting fan base. If the Buffalo franchise were to fold and be relocated to anywhere else other than Toronto, it would leave a huge coverage hole for the NFL. In Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe alone, there are over 8.1 million people. One could argue that people would visit Detroit, but realistically this wouldn’t happen. The drive from Toronto to the Detroit border is close to 4 hours, most people aren’t willing to make that far of a drive to support the Detroit Lions. The NFL isn’t stupid, and they may be willing to make the move to ensure this market is properly covered.

Summary:

Despite some of the negative impacts of the move to Toronto, I would wholly support bringing an NFL team to Toronto. Toronto is a world city and would welcome another attraction to the already long list of things to do and see. I think it would be a wonderful for the tourist industry and bring in a lot of people who might not otherwise visit the city to Toronto. Toronto has proven its ability to host countless world events, and this would be another. While I was saddened by the outcome of today’s game, it was far easier to drive 15 minutes rather than 2.5 hours home to lick my wounds after the loss.